Carter County, Missouri: History and Information

Carter County, Missouri

Carter County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Van Buren
Year Organized: 1859
Square Miles: 508

Court House:

P.O. Box 517
County Courthouse
Van Buren, MO 63965-0517

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Zimri A. Carter, pioneer settler.

Demographics:

History of Carter County

It was formed from parts of Ripley, Shannon and Wayne counties on March 10, 1859. Named for the first settler, Zimri A. Carter (see Carter Creek). Adam Lane of Ripley, John Buford of Reynolds, and D.C. Reed of Shannon counties, who were appointed to locate the seat of justice, met at the home of James Brown (see Brown Hollow) on the first Monday in April, 1859, and selected Van Buren, the old county seat of Ripley County, for the seat of justice. The old log courthouse erected in 1853 was used until 1867, when a frame building was erected, which very recently has been replaced by a good modern structure. (HIST. MISSOURI, Conrad I, 507-508; Douglas I, 317; Houck III, 159-160; R.L. Coleman)

Source: Pottenger, Cora Ann. "Place Names Of Five Southern Border Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1945.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Ellsinore

city

Incorporated Area

- Grandin

city

Incorporated Area

- Van Buren (County Seat)

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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Carter County, Missouri

Carter County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History of Carter County

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

County Resource Guide